Tragedia lirica in two actsLibretto by Felice Romani, based on Ippolito Pindemonte’s Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli’s Anna Bolena

CONDUCTOR

Marco Armiliato

PRODUCTION

David McVicar

SET DESIGNER Robert Jones

COSTUME DESIGNER Jenny Tiramani

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Paule Constable

CHOREOGRAPHER

Andrew George

GENERAL MANAGER

Peter Gelb

MUSIC DIRECTOR

James Levine

PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR

Fabio Luisi

Gaetano Donizetti

Saturday, October 15, 2011, 1:00–4:35 pm

Anna Bolena

New Production

The production of Anna Bolena was made possible by a generous gift from Mercedes and Sid Bass.

Saturday, October 15, 2011, 1:00–4:35 pm

in order of vocal appearance

conductor

Marco Armiliato

Jane (Giovanna) Seymour, Anne’s lady-in-waitingEkaterina Gubanova

Anne Boleyn (Anna Bolena)Anna Netrebko

Henry VIII (Enrico), King of EnglandIldar Abdrazakov

Lord Rochefort, Anne’s brotherKeith Miller

Lord Richard (Riccardo) PercyStephen Costello

Sir Hervey, court officialEduardo Valdes

Mark Smeaton, musicianTamara Mumford *

2011–12 Season

Gaetano Donizetti’s

Anna Bolena

The 6th Metropolitan Opera performance of

Met TitlesTo activate, press the red button to the right of the screen in front of your seat and follow the instructions provided. To turn off the display, press the red button once again. If you have questions please ask an usher at intermission.Visit metopera.org

Ildar Abdrazakov as Henry VIII and Anna Netrebko as Anne Boleyn in a scene from Donizetti’s Anna Bolena

Chorus Master Donald PalumboAssistant to the Costume Designer Luca CostiglioloMusical Preparation Joan Dornemann, John Keenan,

Carrie-Ann Matheson, Joshua Greene, Speranza Scappucci

Assistant Stage Directors Eric Einhorn, Gina Lapinski, Jonathon Loy

Stage Band Conductor Jeffrey GoldbergMet Titles J. D. McClatchyPrompter Joan DornemannScenery, properties, and electrical props constructed

and painted in Metropolitan Opera ShopsCostumes executed by Metropolitan Opera Costume

Department and Sands Films Costumes, Ltd., London

Period footwear by Pompeii Shoes, RomeWigs by Metropolitan Opera Wig DepartmentAnimals supervised by All-Tame Animals, Inc.

This performance is made possible in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Before the performance begins, please switch off cell phones and other electronic devices.

Yamaha is the official piano of the Metropolitan Opera.

Latecomers will not be admitted during the performance.

* Graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program

This afternoon’s performance is being transmitted live in high definition to movie theaters worldwide.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family Foundation.

Bloomberg is the global corporate sponsor of The Met: Live in HD.

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The Met’s new Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi is on the podium for the MET Orchestra’s first concert of the season, performing works by Mozart, Richard Strauss, and a world premiere by John Harbison.

MOZART Overture to Die ZauberflöteMOZART Piano Concerto No. 25 in C, K. 503JOHN HARBISON /ALICE MUNRO Closer To My Own Life (world premiere)R. STRAUSS Tıll Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche

Fabio Luisi leads the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

Visit carnegiehall.org or call CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2011 3PM

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GUEST ARTISTS

Richard Goode PIANO

Christine Rice MEZZO-SOPRANORice

TheMetatCarnegie_playbill.AD.indd 1 9/28/11 6:01 PM

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After nearly a decade of political and religious upheaval, Henry VIII has succeeded in ridding himself of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and has crowned as Queen of England his long-term mistress, Anne Boleyn. But despite the birth of a princess, Elizabeth, Anne has twice miscarried and been unable to provide Henry with a male heir.

Act IAt Greenwich Palace, courtiers discuss the state of royal affairs: Queen Anne, after less than three years of marriage, is now neglected by the king and there are rumors that his attentions have turned to another, as yet unknown woman. Jane Seymour, the queen’s chief lady-in-waiting, has been summoned to attend her but hesitates at the door to Anne’s chamber. The queen suddenly appears, demanding to know the reason for the court’s uneasy, despondent mood. She admits to Jane that she is herself troubled and asks her page, Mark Smeaton, to sing a song to cheer everyone. But the words of his song remind her of the lost happiness of her first love, which she betrayed in her ambition to marry the king.

Alone in her bedchamber, Jane—who is in fact the king’s new lover—is guilt-ridden over her betrayal. Henry appears and passionately declares his love, promising Jane marriage and glory. She is disturbed by his threats about Anne’s future but realizes that it is too late for her to turn back.

Anne’s brother, Lord Rochefort, is surprised to meet Richard Percy, Earl of Northumberland, in Greenwich Park. Percy, although banished for being the

Synopsis

Greenwich and London, England, 1536

Act Iscene 1 Greenwich Palace, outside the queen’s apartments and inside Jane Seymour’s bedchamberscene 2 Greenwich Parkscene 3 A hall in the palace

Intermission (at APPROXIMATELY 2:30 PM)

Act IIscene 1 The queen’s apartments in Westminster Palacescene 2 Anteroom to the Council Chamberscene 3 The Tower of London

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queen’s former lover, has been recalled from exile by the king. He has heard of Anne’s distress and asks after her. Rochefort answers evasively. Percy admits that his own life has been miserable since he and Anne separated. The king arrives with a hunting party, followed by Anne and her ladies-in-waiting. Henry greets his wife coolly, then tells Percy that he has the queen to thank for his pardon. In fact, the king has arranged Percy’s return as a trap for Anne and is grimly amused at their emotion and embarrassment as they greet each other. He orders Hervey, a councilor, to spy on the couple.

Smeaton, who is secretly in love with the queen, is on his way to her apartments in order to return a miniature portrait of her that he has stolen. He hides when Anne suddenly appears, arguing with Rochefort. Rochefort begs Anne to see Percy in the hope that she can persuade him to leave England and avert further danger to them both. Reluctantly, she agrees. Percy enters and is unable to hide that he still loves Anne. She admits that the king no longer loves—and in fact hates—her, but she remains firm and pleads with Percy to leave the realm. Distraught, Percy draws his sword. Smeaton rushes out of hiding to protect Anne, and Rochefort runs in to warn them that the king is approaching. Henry bursts in with Hervey and the court in tow. Smeaton proclaims the queen’s innocence but the furious king seizes the miniature as welcome proof of his wife’s seeming infidelity. He accuses all four of an adulterous conspiracy. Anne, in front of the court, is arrested.

Act IIAnne has been imprisoned in her apartments at Westminster Palace in London. Her ladies are anxiously awaiting news of the impending trial when they are suddenly summoned by Hervey to give evidence before the Council of Peers. They leave with the guards. Jane steals in to tell Anne that she can only avoid the death sentence by pleading guilty and confessing her adulterous crimes, thereby allowing the king to divorce her. Anne refuses, cursing the woman who has replaced her in the king’s affections. Jane admits that she is that woman. Shocked, Anne at first dismisses her, but then feels pity for Jane’s desperation. She says it is the king, not Jane, who has betrayed her.

Smeaton has falsely testified under torture to being one of the queen’s lovers. He believes his confession will save her life. Anne and Percy are brought before the council. Anne tells the king that she is ready to die but begs him to spare her the humiliation of a trial. In the following confrontation, Percy claims that he and Anne were married before she became the king’s wife. Anne is unable to deny Percy’s assertion. Even though Henry doubts that there were true vows between the lovers in the past, they have played into his hands and their conviction

Synopsis CONTINUED

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has become certain. Percy and Anne are led away. Jane pleads with Henry for Anne’s life, but he dismisses her. News arrives of the council’s verdict: The royal marriage is dissolved and Anne and her accomplices are to be executed.

Percy discovers that Rochefort has also been condemned as an incestuous conspirator to treason. The two men resolve to meet death bravely together and with Anne.

In her cell at the Tower of London, Anne is in a state of delirium. Before her ladies, her thoughts turn to happier times: the day of her wedding to Henry, her first love for Percy, and finally her childhood at her family home. Hervey and the guards enter and Anne is awakened to the awful reality of her fate. Her fellow prisoners are brought in. Smeaton accuses himself of bringing about her end. Anne embraces Percy and her brother, drifting back into insensibility. When bells and cannon fire are heard, announcing the king’s new marriage, Anne comes to her senses again. She furiously curses the royal couple and goes to face her execution.

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Premiere: Milan, Teatro Carcano, 1830The first of Donizetti’s operas to achieve more than local success, Anna Bolena is based on a historical episode that has fascinated—even haunted—artists and writers ever since it happened: the fall and death of England’s Queen Anne Boleyn, the second of Henry VIII’s six wives. This personal drama took place amid the political upheavals of the English Reformation, an enormous social cataclysm that was in fact triggered by Henry and Anne’s marriage. Before he could legally wed Anne, Henry unsuccesfully tried to convince the church to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. While many operas use history as a point of departure for imaginative storytelling, Anna Bolena stays closer to real events than most, in the music as well as the libretto: a palpable sense of sadness and dread permeates the score. The multi-dimensional characters are both bigger than life and credibly human. The lead role was created by Giuditta Pasta, a great prima donna of her day who would also sing the premiere of Bellini’s Norma the following year. Anna Bolena fell out of the repertory a few decades after its successful premiere. A famous 1957 production at Milan’s La Scala, starring Maria Callas and directed by Luchino Visconti, drew audience attention back to this neglected masterpiece. Since then, it has resurfaced when there have been notable singing actors available to do justice to its demanding leading roles.

The CreatorsGaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) composed about 75 operas plus orchestral and chamber music in a career abbreviated by mental illness and premature death. Most of his works, with the exceptions of the ever-popular Lucia di Lammermoor and the comic gems L’Elisir d’Amore and Don Pasquale, disappeared from the public eye after his death, but critical and popular opinion of the rest of his huge opus has grown considerably over the past 50 years. Felice Romani (1788–1865) was the official librettist of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and worked with many of the most popular Italian composers of the time. Romani collaborated with Donizetti on several of his best known operas, including L’Elisir d’Amore and Lucrezia Borgia, and provided Vincenzo Bellini with all but three of his librettos.

The SettingThe trial of Anne Boleyn took place on May 15, 1536, and her execution followed four days later. The opera’s first act is set during the weeks leading up to the trial,

Gaetano Donizetti

Anna Bolena

In Focus

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in Greenwich Castle near London. Act II takes place at the Tower of London, between trial and execution.

The MusicOne of the most striking characteristics of all of Donizetti’s works is the power and abundance of melody. In context, however, the music reveals a deeper dramatic purpose. The high range of the tenor’s vocal line in his Act I solos tells us of the character’s passion, while its unexpected turns suggest his impetuousness. The bass’s music depicts both the elegance and the menace of Henry VIII’s highly complex personality. Anne first caught Henry’s eye when she was a lady-in-waiting for Catherine of Aragon, and her own lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour, is destined to become his third wife. The duet between Anne and Jane that begins Act II is an even more revealing example of creating drama through melody: Although labeled a duet, most of this scene is made up of a sequence of solos tracking the two women’s evolving understanding of each other. When they finally sing together at the end of the scene, the combination of their voices depicts a complex relationship that encompasses rivalry but also a certain amount of sympathy. This attention to detail can be found throughout the opera, beyond the great arias and ensembles. The finale to Act I is a superb sextet that captures all the diverse, intense emotions of the moment. But this elaborate ensemble is introduced by a brief moment that can be equally intense in its own way: Anne cries out (“Giuduci! ad Anna!”) three times as she tries to comprehend that she, a queen, must face the royal judges. This exclamation can convey varying levels of indignation, terror, despair, or sadness, and slight variations in each performance can alter the dramatic emphasis. Nowhere is the combination of focused dramatic outburst and inspired melody more apparent than in the searing final scene, as Anne awaits her execution. While often referred to as a mad scene, it is really much more. The character goes through a variety of emotions and mental conditions, including terror, illusory calm, and confusion bordering on hallucination. These states of mind come and go rapidly, sometimes encompassing complete melodies (such as the nostalgic ruminations about her happy times with Percy, accompanied by a haunting English horn), at other times breaking off before resolving, and occasionally morphing after a few words. Prayers alternate with recriminations, leading to a final climactic outburst that is a masterpiece of operatic insight and a superb example of opera’s ability to explore the human dimensions behind history.

Anna Bolena at the MetDavid McVicar’s new production marks the opera’s Met premiere.

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“Success, triumph, delirium; it seemed that the public had gone mad. Everyone says they cannot remember ever having been present at such a triumph,” wrote composer Gaetano Donizetti to his wife after

the first performance of Anna Bolena on December 26, 1830. It was a sweet triumph, indeed—doubly so since it took place in Milan.

Donizetti had been writing operas since 1818 and enjoyed considerable success elsewhere in Italy, especially in Naples. But the Milanese remained stubbornly aloof. The composer’s 1822 opera Chiara e Serafina had been written for La Scala, but it was received indifferently, with no further interest from theaters in Milan until the fall of 1830 when a group of aristocrats, fed up with the way La Scala was being run, decided to put on a rival season in Milan’s Teatro Carcano.

They offered Donizetti a contract to write the opera that would open the Carnival season (an enormous honor), for the great soprano Giuditta Pasta and equally famous tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini, with a libretto by the well-known Felice Romani. Donizetti signed. Since the opera had to open on Saint Stephen’s Day (December 26), the libretto was due at the end of September. Romani, as usual, missed his deadline, and the composer did not have the completed text until November 10. It was worth waiting for. Donizetti and Romani had worked together twice before, including on the ill-fated Chiara e Serafina, but the libretto to Anna Bolena was the best the composer had had to that point in his career. It was based on two plays: an Italian translation by Ippolito Pindemonte of Marie-Joseph de Chénier’s Henry VIII (Paris, 1791) and Alessandro Pepoli’s Anna Bolena (Venice, 1788).

Romani’s drama focuses attention squarely on the innocent Anna Bolena and the suffering she endures while awaiting her tragic fate, a fate she shares with the man she truly loves, Henry Percy, even though she has been faithful to her husband, King Henry VIII (Enrico in the opera). The characters are all sharply etched, and they are brought together in situations that further the drama while revealing new aspects of the people involved. The libretto does not follow history to a T, but it is marvelous drama, and Donizetti turned it into a sensational opera.

The Anne Boleyn who became Henry VIII’s second wife was not the beloved, long-suffering queen of the opera. As a young teenager she and her older sister Mary were sent to France, where they were part of the court of King Francis I.

“The court followed the lead of the king in making a mannerly art of adultery,” wrote one historian. “The clergy adjusted themselves after making the requisite objections. The people made no objections, but gratefully imitated the easy code of the court.” Centuries later Victor Hugo wrote a play about Francis I’s licentious court, Le Roi s’amuse. It was banned after one performance, but became the basis of Verdi’s Rigoletto—after numerous changes to satisfy the

Program Note

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censor. One can only wonder what effect such behavior may have had on the psyche of the teenage Anne Boleyn, especially after her sister Mary became the French king’s (and later King Henry’s) mistress.

The Anne who returned to England in 1522 was described by the Venetian ambassador as “not the handsomest woman in the world. She is of middle height, dark-skinned, long neck, wide mouth, rather flat-chested.” But she was vivacious, quick-tempered, witty, outspoken, and knew how to make the most of her flashing dark eyes, long hair, and graceful neck. Thanks to her training at the French court, and her own ambition, she soon attracted serious attention from several men, including Henry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland, who was already betrothed. In the opera Percy claims he and Anne were married—or at least promised to each other in the sight of God—before she ever married the king, and Anne does not deny it. Whether or not this is historically accurate is open to debate. What is known is that young Percy was hustled away from court on order of King Henry, and that Percy’s wife (who loathed him) later claimed there had indeed been an understanding between Percy and Anne. The king’s inquiry into the persistent rumors of the queen’s adultery failed to produce any evidence. Unlike his operatic counterpart, the historic Percy was never brought to trial, and his life was spared.

Initially, Anne had played her cards right with Henry VIII. She refused to become his mistress, and the more she resisted his advances, the more besotted the king became. “This passion is the most extraordinary thing,” wrote the Papal legate in February 1529. “He sees nothing, he thinks of nothing, but his Anne; he cannot be without her for an hour.” What is never mentioned in the opera is the biggest plum Anne could offer Henry—the prospect of a son, an heir to the throne, and political stability for the Tudor line at a time when many Englishmen still remembered the devastating effects of the War of the Roses. Henry’s wife, Queen Catherine, had not provided a male heir who survived infancy, and she was past childbearing. Determined to make Anne his queen, Henry set off a series of international crises before he succeeded.

By the time they were married, Anne was pregnant with a daughter—Elizabeth, who would later become one of England’s most illustrious monarchs (and a key character in Donizetti’s operas Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux). Later pregnancies ended in miscarriages. Anne’s charms began to wear thin, and her lack of friends at court did not help matters when Henry—ever on the quest for a male heir—decided that one of Anne’s ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour, would be the wife he needed. Seizing on rumors of Anne’s indiscreet behavior, he had her charged with multiple counts of adultery, including incest with her own brother, and treason. The only person who actually confessed to having been Anne’s lover was a court musician, Mark Smeaton, and he was possibly tortured. In the opera, he believes his confession will save Anne’s life.

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The historic Anne Boleyn did not go mad and did not die while the people cheered the king’s new marriage to Jane Seymour. (The wedding took place 11 days later.) One historian summed it up: “No one could be sure of her guilt, but few regretted her fall.”

Whether or not historically accurate, Romani’s libretto gave Donizetti the opportunity to write music that took Italian opera to a new level. With Anna Bolena, he found his own, personal voice as a composer of Romantic tragedy, primarily by bending the traditional forms of the genre to create a tighter and more emotionally gripping drama. In the opera’s opening scene, for instance, Anne interrupts Smeaton’s aria before it is finished, adding a sense of urgency to the proceedings. In the famous Act II duet between Anne and Jane (Giovanna in the libretto), the two women do not sing together until the very end of the number. The revelation that Jane is Anne’s rival, and Anne’s reaction to it, are handled in a more conversational manner, almost as they would be in a play—but greatly intensified by Donizetti’s music.

The score is rich in ensembles, and the numerous choruses are used brilliantly to provide atmosphere, especially the women’s choruses in Act II. Equally striking are the opportunities Donizetti gave his soloists to make a tremendous impact on the audience—even outside the context of their formal arias and ensembles. In Anna Bolena, the composer proved himself a master at writing music that is not part of a “number” yet expresses a character’s emotion so vividly that in the hands of a skillful singer it can electrify listeners. The role of Anne includes so many of these moments that one wonders what influence Giuditta Pasta might have had on the score, since Donizetti wrote the opera while her houseguest.

One example can be found in the finale of Act I, when the king tells Anne to save her story for the judges who will hear her evidence. “Judges! For Anne!” the thunderstruck queen replies. “For Anne! Judges!” The soprano’s words are punctuated by forte chords in the orchestra that leave most of the text unaccompanied, conveying the fact that at that moment she is all on her own—and allowing the soprano to put her individual imprint on Anne’s sudden awareness that she is doomed. Then she launches into the finale’s rousing stretta, with its jagged vocal line (marked “desperately” in the score) and the words “Ah, my fate is sealed.”

Another example occurs in the opening of Act II. For this scene, Donizetti wrote a very simple prayer for Anne, “God, who sees into my heart.” It’s not a formal aria and just 16 measures long—a brief, unvarnished look into Anne’s soul. But a great soprano can bring tears to the eyes of an audience through the way she molds its simple vocal line.

All the major characters get their moments in the sun. Smeaton’s solos are charming, and Percy’s Act II aria, “Vivi tu,” has been a favorite of almost any tenor who sings it. Still, it remains a remarkable feat on Donizetti’s part to

Program Note CONTINUED

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have written the role of Henry in such a way that it would attract some of the greatest basses of his or any time—even though the king has no aria. The Italian writer and statesman Giuseppe Mazzini commented, “Who has not heard in the musical expression of Henry VIII the stern language, at once tyrannical and artful, that history assigned him? Anna Bolena is the sort of opera that approaches the musical epic.”

The score’s crown jewel, of course, is Anne’s justly famous mad scene. Donizetti’s stroke of genius lies in combining its individual elements—Anne’s arias, bits of recitative, melodic fragments—with just the right amount of chorus, comments from other characters, and superb use of the orchestra (both in terms of individual instruments, such as the English horn, and as a whole). The result is a final scene that is greater than the sum of its parts, that is strong enough to provide a dramatically satisfying, emotionally cathartic climax to the entire opera. Giuditta Pasta was only the first in a long line of great singing actresses who reveled in first wringing dry the souls of her audience with her poignant aria “Al dolce guidami,” keeping them on the edges of their seats with “Cielo, a’ miei lunghi spasimi,” then finally whipping them into hysteria with the dazzling and fiendishly difficult “Coppia iniqua.” Donizetti went on to write a number of famous mad scenes, but he arguably never wrote a better one. No wonder Anna Bolena was the opera that introduced the composer’s name to Paris and London, set him securely on the path to international fame, and whetted the opera audience’s taste for Romantic tragedy for decades to come.

—Paul Thomason

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The Cast and Creative Team

this season Anna Bolena, Ernani, Aida, and Madama Butterfly at the Met, Tosca in Munich, L’Elisir d’Amore and L’Italiana in Algeri with the Vienna State Opera, Linda di Chamounix in Barcelona, Manon Lescaut in Hamburg, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Paris Opera.met appearances More than 200 performances, including La Bohème (debut, 1998), Tosca, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Rondine, Adriana Lecouvreur, La Traviata, La Fille du Régiment, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto, Turandot, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Andrea Chénier, Sly, and Cyrano de Bergerac.career highlights Since his 1995 debut at the Vienna State Opera he has returned to that company for a number of works, including Tosca, Fedora, Turandot, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, and La Sonnambula. He also conducts regularly at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, San Francisco Opera, Barcelona’s Liceu, Rome Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, and Venice’s La Fenice, among others.

Marco Armiliatoconductor (genoa, italy)

David McVicardirector (glasgow, scotland)

this season Anna Bolena at the Met.met productions Il Trovatore (debut, 2009).career highlights He has directed Adriana Lecouvreur, Aida, Salome, Le Nozze di Figaro, Faust, Die Zauberflöte, and Rigoletto at Covent Garden and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Giulio Cesare, Carmen, and La Bohème at Glyndebourne. Other productions include La Clemenza di Tito at the Aix-en-Provence Festival; Tristan und Isolde at the New National Theatre of Tokyo; Billy Budd, Giulio Cesare, and Manon at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Wagner’s Ring cycle and Così fan tutte at Opéra National du Rhin; Alcina, Tosca, The Rape of Lucretia, The Turn of the Screw, and Der Rosenkavalier at English National Opera; Macbeth at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre; Don Giovanni, Agrippina, and A Midsumer Night’s Dream at Brussels’s La Monnaie; L’Incoronazione di Poppea and Semele at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, and Idomeneo at Scottish Opera; Sweeney Todd at Opera North; and Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Salzburg Festival.

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Robert Jonesset designer (london, england)

this season Anna Bolena for his Met debut.career highlights He has worked on a number of productions for theaters in London’s West End, including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Cyrano de Bergerac, Ragtime, Much Ado About Nothing, Dance of Death, The Secret Rapture, and Rock ‘n’ Roll (which was also seen on Broadway). He has also created more than 15 productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Pentecost, Henry VIII, The Herbal Bed, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, The Winter’s Tale, and Hamlet. Opera work includes Tristan und Isolde in Tokyo, Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea in Paris and Berlin, L’Elisir d’Amore for English National Opera, Manon Lescaut for Gothenburg Opera, Don Carlo for the Frankfurt Opera, and Giulio Cesare for the Glyndebourne Festival, Lille Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. He also created production design for the BBC/Royal Shakespeare Company film of Hamlet.

Jenny Tiramanicostume designer (london, england)

this season Anna Bolena for her Met debut.career highlights Director of Theatre Design at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London, from 1997 to 2005, where she designed Henry V, Hamlet, Antony and Cleopatra, and Twelfth Night (for which she received the 2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Costume Design). Opera designs include Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Handel’s Orlando for Opera Lille, and Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (costume) for the Aix-en-Provence Festival. As a dress historian her publications include Patterns of Fashion 4, co-authored with Janet Arnold and Santina M. Levey, Macmillan, 2008, and Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns, co-edited with Susan North, V&A, 2011. She is the director of the School of Historical Dress, a charitable venture established in 2009 to teach an object-based approach to the subject of historical clothing.

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Paule Constablelighting designer (brighton, england)

this season Anna Bolena, Don Giovanni, and Satyagraha at the Met, Così fan tutte for the Los Angeles Opera, and Le Nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne.met productions Satyagraha (debut, 2008).career highlights She received the 2011 Tony Award for the Broadway production of War Horse and received Olivier Awards in the UK for Don Carlos at London’s Gielgud Theatre, His Dark Materials at the National Theatre, and The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse. Operatic engagements include Carmen, Faust, Rigoletto, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, and Macbeth for Covent Garden; Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Billy Budd, Giulio Cesare, Carmen, La Bohème, and Rusalka at Glyndebourne; Idomeneo, Satyagraha, and Peter Grimes for English National Opera; and Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Semele, and Agrippina for Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. She just completed David McVicar’s production of Wagner’s Ring cycle in Strasbourg and Tristan und Isolde in Tokyo.

Andrew Georgechoreographer (london, england)

this season Anna Bolena at the Met.met productions Don Giovanni (debut, 2000).career highlights In the United States he has provided choreography for productions of Der Fliegende Höllander for New York City Opera and Giulio Cesare for Lyric Opera of Chicago. His British credits include Adriana Lecouvreur and Salome for Covent Garden; The Turn of the Screw, Der Rosenkavalier, Agrippina, and The Handmaid’s Tale for English National Opera; Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Giulio Cesare, and Carmen for the Glyndebourne Festival; La Traviata for Scottish Opera and Welsh National Opera; and Der Rosenkavalier for Scottish Opera and Opera North. He has also choreographed productions for La Scala, the Netherlands Opera, Berlin State Opera, Salzburg Festival, Frankfurt Opera, Tokyo’s New National Theatre, Brussels’s La Monnaie, Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra National du Rhin, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival, among others. He just completed working on his third Ring cycle in Strasbourg.

The Cast and Creative Team CONTINUED

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Ekaterina Gubanovamezzo-soprano (moscow, russia)

this season Jane Seymour in Anna Bolena at the Met, Cuniza in a concert version of Verdi’s Oberto at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at La Scala, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Fricka in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre at the Berlin State Opera.met appearances Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Hélène Bezukhova in War and Peace (debut, 2007), and Eboli in Don Carlo with the company on tour in Japan.career highlights Neris in Medée in Brussels, Brangäne at the Paris Opera and the festivals of Baden-Baden and Rotterdam, Olga in Eugene Onegin and Flosshilde in Das Rheingold in Salzburg, Amneris in Aida with Munich’s Bavarian State Opera and on tour with La Scala in Tel Aviv and Tokyo, and Eboli in Don Carlo, Lyubasha in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride, and Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust at St. Petersburg’s Stars of the White Nights Festival.

Tamara Mumfordmezzo-soprano (sandy, utah)

this season Smeaton in Anna Bolena and Flosshilde in Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung at the Met, the world premiere of Adams’s oratorio The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and concerts with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Utah Symphony.met appearances More than 100 performances, including Laura in Luisa Miller (debut, 2006), Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, Third Lady in The Magic Flute, Mavra Kuzminichna/Matryosha in War and Peace, Maddalena in Rigoletto, The Abbess in Suor Angelica, Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Pauline in The Queen of Spades.career highlights Recent engagements include the title role of Henze’s Phaedra and Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Dido in Dido and Aeneas at the Glimmerglass Opera, Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Glyndebourne Opera, and Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri at the Palm Beach Opera. She is a graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

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Anna Netrebkosoprano (krasnodar, russia)

this season The title roles of Anna Bolena and Manon at the Met, Violetta in La Traviata at Covent Garden, Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, recitals in Paris and at Carnegie Hall, a concert at Vienna’s Musikverein with Daniel Barenboim, and a concert tour of Germany with bass Erwin Schrott. met appearances Norina in Don Pasquale, Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Lucia di Lammermoor, Natasha in War and Peace (debut, 2002), Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Mimì and Musetta in La Bohème, Gilda in Rigoletto, and Elvira in I Puritani.career highlights Violetta at the Salzburg Festival, Vienna State Opera, and Bavarian State Opera; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Salzburg Festival; Ilia in Idomeneo and Gilda with Washington National Opera; Manon at Covent Garden; Lucia and Juliette with Los Angeles Opera; Anna Bolena, Mimì, Manon, and Micaëla in Carmen with the Vienna State Opera; and numerous roles with St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre.

Ildar Abdrazakovbass (ufa, russia)

this season Henry VIII in Anna Bolena and Dosifei in Khovanshchina at the Met, the Verdi Requiem with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival, Mustafà in L’Italiana in Algeri with the Vienna State Opera, the Four Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at La Scala, and the title role of Attila in Rome.met appearances The Four Villains, Méphistophélès in La Damnation de Faust and Faust, Attila, Masetto in Don Giovanni (debut, 2004), Alidoro in La Cenerentola, Escamillo in Carmen, Mustafà, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Leporello in Don Giovanni.career highlights Recent performances include Moïse in Moïse et Pharon in Rome, Procida in I Vespri Siciliani in Turin, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Covent Garden, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro with Washington National Opera, Banquo in Macbeth at La Scala, and Walter in Luisa Miller with the Paris Opera.

The Cast and Creative Team CONTINUED

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Stephen Costellotenor (philadelphia, pennsylvania)

this season Percy in Anna Bolena at the Met, Alfredo in La Traviata at Covent Garden, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore at the Vienna State Opera, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor in Seville, and Rodolfo in La Bohème with the Los Angeles Opera. met appearances Arturo (debut, 2007) and Edgardo.career highlights Recent engagements include Roméo in Roméo et Juliette at the Salzburg Festival and with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Rodolfo at the Vienna State Opera, Camille in The Merry Widow and Percy with the Dallas Opera, the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier and the title role of Faust with the San Diego Opera, and Nemorino for his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival. He has also sung Camille with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Carlo in Linda di Chamounix and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at Covent Garden, and Ishmael in the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick in Dallas.

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Just before the start of the season, you were elevated from Principal Guest Conductor to Principal Conductor. Congratulations!Thank you. It was very sudden and quite surprising for me, because the news that James Levine had to withdraw from his performances [because of a fall] was somewhat of a shock. I’m very sorry for Jimmy, and my thoughts are with him. But working in this house is a joy. The musical and theatrical level is so high—higher than I’ve experienced in other houses. And in my new position, the musicians and I will work together even more closely and be even more connected than before.

You are conducting the new production of Don Giovanni on short notice. Does it help that this is such a well-known piece?Absolutely. I have known Don Giovanni since my childhood—but I am always trying to explore new aspects of it. To keep it fresh, you have to convince the singers and the orchestra to think that we are performing it for the first time. Forget about everything you have learned before, and try to have a fresh look—like a child who is hearing it for the first time.

Don Giovanni is such a rich piece musically. Is there any part of it that is especially challenging for you as the conductor?Well, Don Giovanni is one of the most perfect operas ever composed, which doesn’t make it any less challenging, because in Mozart every note has meaning. It’s like Wagner or Strauss in that way. So it’s important to make sure that all of the performers are very, very closely connected to the score.

Shortly after Don Giovanni opens, you will step into Maestro Levine’s shoes to conduct the new production of Siegfried. Do these operas complement each other at all, or will it be a complete switch?Well, music is always complementary. If you play Monteverdi, you find connections with Puccini, for example. And if you play Mozart, you find connections with Wagner. Wagner was educated with the Classical music of Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn. So there are very, very strong links, and we shouldn’t ignore them. Nevertheless, Siegfried comes from another era. It is in another language and it is quite different.

Of course, you’re very familiar with the Ring operas. When you’re leading Siegfried, do you have the other three in mind?Of course. Mainly I have the proportions of the other operas in mind, which is very important for the Ring. These are not four different individual operas—it’s one big opera stretched over four nights. And, actually, you can understand the dimension of Siegfried or Götterdämmerung only if you understand the dimension of Rheingold, only if you understand the construction of Walküre. So jumping in, as I am, right in the middle with Siegfried—it’s quite challenging and exciting!

A Conversation with Fabio LuisiOn the eve of the 2011–12 season, the maestro spoke with Met radio announcer Margaret Juntwait about becoming Principal Conductor—and stepping in on short notice to conduct two of opera’s greatest masterpieces, back to back.

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